Beware of agents offering to recover cash

PETALING JAYA: Never believe any companies or persons claiming to be agents providing services to recover unclaimed money, said Deputy Finance Minister II Datuk Lee Chee Leong.

The Accountant-General’s Department has never appointed any agents to facilitate the refund of such money, he said.

“They claim that they are able to help retrieve the money and will charge a fee for that.

“There is no such thing. You have to go directly to the department’s offices, which are in every state,” he said, adding that the service provided by the Government was free of charge.

The department has received complaints from the public on calls and e-mail from “agents” claiming to be officially appointed.

Lee said the department would only receive the name, MyKad number, reference number and the amount unclaimed, and not the owner’s address or contact number.

“This is because the entities involved are already unable to trace them before the money was handed to us.

“So it is impossible for the department to send out e-mail to or contact the owners. The unclaimed money is kept and safeguarded by the Government in a consolidated trust account until the right person comes forward.

“While the money is the Government’s responsibility, it is managed in accordance with financial rules,” he said.

A 29-year-old marketing executive, who wished to be known only as Nellie, said she was contacted three times by an “agent” offering to help obtain her unclaimed money.

She said initial checks showed that the “agent” was from a company supposedly based in Shah Alam.

She also received a letter notifying her about a sum of unclaimed money.

“I am very sure I don’t have any dormant bank accounts or any payments that I have yet to receive.

“The letter also looked dodgy and the agent called me twice, trying to convince me to take up her service.

“I got fed up and asked her how much she was getting from this. She said RM2,000, and I hung up immediately,” Nellie said.

In July, it was reported that a 60-year-old man in Ipoh was almost cheated by a caller who wanted to charge him RM1,000 to get a refund from his old insurance account.

He declined and went to the department office in Perak on his own, only to find out that he had no unclaimed money at all.

In June, the department issued a warning to the public not to fall for fake e-mail using the Accountant-General of Malaysia’s name and offering to provide such services.